“In 2014, the European Union and United States imposed
sanctions relating to the Russian energy sector. In compliance
with the sanctions and all general and specific licenses,
prohibited activities involving offshore Russia in the Black Sea,
Arctic regions, and onshore western Siberia have been wound down.
The Corporation's maximum exposure to loss from these joint
ventures as of December 31, 2014, is $1.0 billion,” the
report said.

Rosneft and ExxonMobil
established projects to conduct exploration and research
activities in 2013 and 2014. The European Union and United States
imposed sanctions relating to the Russian energy sector in 2014,
prohibiting any activities that involve offshore work in the
Russian Black Sea and Arctic regions, and onshore in western
Siberia.

The two companies began an exploration project in the Kara Sea in
August despite the sanctions. Oil reserves in the Kara Sea could
be as high as 13 billion tons, which is more than in the Gulf of
Mexico or the whole of Saudi Arabia.

Another joint venture
known as the Sakhalin–1 Consortium in Russia’s Far East uses
Berkut, the world’s largest oil platform and is producing 27,000
tons of oil a day.

Russia’s Rosneft and its President Igor Sechin have been put
under US and EU sanctions. The provision of oil equipment and
services such as drilling in offshore deep water projects such as
in the Arctic, or shale well drilling were also banned due to the
terms of the sanctions.